She will be loved
by osaka-jazzed
Summary: Inspired by the Maroon 5 song of the same name. Fai is a flaky musician who's broke and eats too much sweets. but when he happens upon a runaway model, he decides to play matchmaker. That is, assuming old aqaontences don't find her first. AU! sxs not Fxs
1. Chapter 1

Inspired by the Maroon 5 song She will be loved. This fic is NOT a Fai/Sakura fic wakaru? this is just capter numero uno. Syoran, and Kurogane will make appearences later on.

* * *

She Will. Chapter one.

The rain poured down as Fai clutched his coffee, shivering. Pulling an old blue blanket off the sofa, he stood in front of the window watching the rain beat down, almost bouncing off the sidewalk.

Fai was glad to have his apartment, however small it was. He truly pitied anyone caught out during this one……

He made to close the frayed curtains when something down on the fire escape caught his eye.

Or rather, someone.

There stood A girl of about fourteen pressed up against the door for all she was worth, looking frantically around for a shelter. Rain drops pelted her from every possible angle as she tried in vain to shield her face from the storm.

"Karma is so laughing at me," muttered Fai as he slapped on his best 'nice guy' smile and cranked open the old door.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sakura couldn't stop shivering as she pressed herself against the door. Closing her eyes she fervently prayed that someone, anyone, would come by. She guessed she should've realized sooner that leaving was the best option. But she still clung to the grimy brown stone as if it were a life raft. How was it that she'd become so desperate?

Suddenly, a light flickered briefly against the dark before being snuffed out. The hope that flared inside her was snuffed out as quickly as the light. A clap of thunder sounded, making her jump a foot into the air. If someone would just let her in!

Sakura looked up questioningly. Had… the rain stopped?

She whirled around to find a lanky blond man standing behind her, holding a plastic umbrella aloft.

Her mouth worked furiously to find words, but nothing would come out.

The man smiled gently

"Hello. My name is Fai…"

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sitting on a rickety wooden stool in Fai's shabby loft , Sakura clutched the steaming mug of hot chocolate to her as Fai rifled through the closet looking for dry clothes. The loft really wasn't so bad she decided. She could have done a lot worse. Ending up with some whacko child-grabber…….

There was aloud thump from the closet and a long string of swearwords as Fai was covered in an avalanche of towels.

Sakura almost laughed. Almost. How could she not help but trust him?

"Fai-san?" a shaggy blonde head popped out of the mess of towels.

"Yes?"

"What do you do for a living?"

This appeared to stump him for a second. "Hmmm… what do I do?"

"you don't know?!" "Well I do everything I guess. Sometimes I'm a writer, sometimes I'm a teacher, but most times I'm a musician. "

He looked pleased with the answer, grinning inanely. But then caught her eye and looked at her curiously, the dumb grin vanishing.

"and what is a fourteen year old girl doing trapped in a rainstorm outside strange men's apartments?"

Sakura squirmed in the chair uncomfortably. "well… I'm not fourteen for a start…"

Fai raised one eyebrow quizzically. "Coulda' fooled me."

Sakura was having a vicious internal argument. Tell! Don't tell! Tell! Don't tell! Fai crinkles he nose funny when he smiles….

That cinched it.

"I'm eighteen. My name is Sakura Kimimoto, I have a dog name Mokona and an older brother who's gay! My hair is naturally this color, and I'm a vegetarian. When I was in fourth grade, Tomoyo broke my mother's video camera and we blamed it on the-

She was cut off as Fai hit the floor laughing.

Sakura had the urge to run up and kick him. All she'd done was trust him!

When he was quite through laughing, he sat up and wiped his eyes on the sleeve of his paint-splattered sweatshirt.

"Wait, did you say Kimimoto?"

Sakura froze.

"The Tsubasa model? What the hell are you doing out here!"

Caught. Who knew the hobo would know these things?

Fai leaped out of his comfy pile of towels, swinging his long legs over the battered countertop.

"You ran away didn't you?" the tone of his voice wasn't questioning her, it was telling her. She hung her head.

"This was as far as I could get! I ran out of money, and this was the last stop on the bus, and the driver was this weird pedophile-looking guy with glasses, I couldn't sleep there!"

She paused for a breath.

Fai smiled widely, "You talk too fast" he said twirling around the kitchen.

"You….don't mind? If I stay here?"

"Only If you level with me. I want to know everything about why you ran away!" sang Fai happily.

Sakura shook her head smiling. At least one good thing had come out of a four hour bus trip and stay in the rain: She'd finally found someone who didn't care what her age was, or what she looked like; Something that made her modeling world go round.

Fai opened a chipped wardrobe's contents on the floor, spilling out case after case of musical instruments. He sorted through the mess until he found an old guitar with a long scratch running down the side. Strumming it absentmindedly, he pulled a sheet of music from seemingly nowhere, and began writing. The sound of his pen scratching, the pounding rain, and the lingering smell of cocoa lulled Sakura to sleep.

XXXXXXXXXX

Blinking her eyes slowly, Sakura sat up, staring at the sunshine blasting through the window and spreading across the matress that Fai had laid out for her on the floor night before. Stumbling across the hall, she heard singing and a hissing noise coming from what must have been the kitchen, and into a dingy room with little furniture. Turning, she saw Fai in all his checked-apron glory tossing something that looked suspiciously like sugar into a sizzling pot on the stove.

"You're awake!" he cheered, smiling widely. "come help me with this, I'm not sure how to make it!!"

Rolling her eyes, Sakura rolled up her sleeves and began mixing whatever was in the bowl. It certainly did look like a strange jumble of ingrediants, but who was she to judge. She'd never had to do anything for herself before...

"So...Sakura-chan. What are we going to now eh? everybody will be looking for you. Your parents must be worried sick!"

"I moved out when I became a model." Sakura sniffed haughtily. But Fai had had too much expirience with people not to notice how her hands were shaking, or the glances she would throw in the direction of the windows as if she was waiting for someone to bust in and demmand her return.

'scared. I'm betting this is the first time she's acted out on her own. And from those glances..' he pushed the bowl away from him, 'it probably has to do with a guy.'

"Look." said Fai, getting right in her face. "I'll help you stay here, away from whoever is chasing you. but you need to confide in me. I need your trust."

Staring straight into his blue eyes, she did something that she hadn't done for awhile. She believed him.

besides, what could a flake like Fai possibly be hiding?


	2. Chapter 2

Eighteen…. Eighteen?

Watching Sakura ogle at shop windows or stop to pet stray cats, she seemed a lot younger than that. Normally he was an excellent judge of people, but this time he e had an excuse for the mistake.

"Fai-san! Come look at this!" cried Sakura with delight, pointing to a shop farther down the street.

Normally, Fai hated playing the babysitter. But with Sakura, there was a strange exception. Maybe because she could be such a child at times, and seem to carry the weight of the world on her shoulders at others. Talk about buying the world a coke… He wondered If the person who made that up had know Sakura or something. It really wouldn't surprise him.

The thing she had been pointing at turned out to be a cage full of tiny sparrows, their delicate wings flapping uselessly as they struggled to fly.

Sakura's awed expression was reflected in the window, her green eyes opened in earnest.

Had they locked her in the basement as a child? What was up with her total naivety? And yet she had such troubles that she'd run away from home……

Fai shook his head, conjuring a grin back to his face. If she was anywhere as screwed up as he was, Sakura would need his help. Maybe he could rope Yuuko into this…. Yeah. She owed him for fixing her generator last winter anyways. Re-adjusting the groceries on his hip he pried Sakura away from the window with the sparrows, and down the street towards a café on the corner.

"Sakura, do you mind If I run a quick errand next door? Here' five dollars, get whatever you want to eat"

She reached for the money in his hand before hesitating. "You're leaving me alone? In this place?"

He ran his hands through his hair, exhausted from shopping, but trying not to let it show.

"Hime, it's crowded in here, no one will notice you. If they do, I'm right next door. And I don't want to take you with me because it's a bar. Do you know what happens to pretty girls in bars?"

Geez, that girl needed to ease up! He looked down, softening a little bit at the sight of her so anxious.

"Hime, I already told you. I won't let anything happen to you, promise," He whispered, cupping her chin in his hand.

She smiled timidly up at him, not being able to help it. When he called her Hime, princess, she couldn't help but relax. Sakura always had to remind herself that Fai would never just leave.

She'd been staying with him for a whole week now, certainly she knew him better than that!

The last week though…. It was almost magical. More freedom than Sakura was ever used to!

Simple things like choosing what to eat, or Fai teaching her to paint, ( one of his odd jobs was an art teacher) or helping him bring groceries back to the loft. Every time she was asked an opinion, she realized how tightly controlled she'd been in the past. A puppet on a string, just doing Fei Wong's bidding.

That…. That stupid butt-chin!! Her fist curled just thinking about him.

Telling Fai about him had been a large weight off her burden.

"So this Fei Wong character, he's the reason you ran away? Let me guess," ranted Fai as they'd chopped vegetables for that night's dinner. He gestured wildly, " He's tall and scary, with a big forehead, or chin or something, and a control freak who acted kindly to you at first but then suddenly went psycho on your ass and tried to control your life!"

He gasped for breath, panting a bit.

"Well, I never really got to live my own life I guess. I heard him talking to his assistant in the prep room. He called me…" Sakura stared down ashamedly, "He called me his little dress-up doll. He just wanted my face, he didn't really care anything about me. And I gave up a scholarship to take his job….. But that's not the worst of it Fai-san."

Fai's eyebrows vanished into his messy hair. "Do tell?"

"Well, he was going to trade me over to this company that does you know…. Adult magazines and stuff. And I couldn't do that, I mean I try to stay positive all the time, but-"

"That bastard," said Fai with a tone that could've brought about a second ice age. Sakura had never thought someone so cheerful could be capable of such a look. She could seriously feel anger rolling off his body. Looking down at the onions she was chopping, tears threatened to appear in her eyes.

Two strong arms were thrust around her shoulders as Fai gave her a giant bear hug.

"Sakura, you should know that you're better than that. You're…. a princess!"

Sakura let out a small laugh.

Fai turned back to his cabbage and began working furiously, sending chunks of veggie flying everywhere. Sakura had given up trying to keep up with his train of thought. The man was exhausting.

"Ta da!!" shouted Fai proudly, hoisting a crown made out of cabbage leaves over her head.

"This is for you, Sakura-hime." He said, standing back to admire the effect. "Just keep smiling and you'll make it. Wait and see."

With a wet smile, Sakura began dicing carrots, tossing the offending onions into a farway bowl along with her bad memories.

"Fai-san? You're right." "I'm always right." Said Fai nonchalantly.

"Wait… about what?"

"He had a giant cleft chin."

Sakura was pulled out of her pleasant memory by a hard push that sent her tumbling to the floor.

Getting up gingerly, she saw a boy about her age lying a few feet away, rubbing his head.

He had short brown hair, and a high-collared green jacket that matched his hazel eyes. Rushing over to help him, she pulled him up to his feet.

"What happened, are you okay?" she babbled incoherently until his eyes focused a bit more, staring at her wonderingly.

A light blush crept over her cheeks.

Remembering her manners, she stuck out her hand. "I'm Sakura. Was there a reason we were shoved on the ground?"

This time it was the boy's turn to blush. "Well you kinda spaced out, and this guy with a really big bowl of jello tripped and…" he rubbed the back of his head nervously. "I'm Syoran, by the way. I live down the street, on top of the Ramen shop."

Wow. She must have been really out of it, she'd never even remembered a guy with jello.

But sure enough, two waiters were bickering over a large mass of gooey red gel.

"Should we help them?" asked Sakura eyeing one of the waiters who looked like he was going to fall asleep while the other waiter shouted at him.

"Nah, when Watanuki's involved it's best to stay clear."

They headed to an open table in the back, Syoran carrying a couple of brownies.

Sakura was enjoying herself so much, that she hadn't even noticed that Fai had been gone at least an hour and a half. For the first time since meeting Fai, Sakura was totally at ease.

XXXXXXXXXX

The same could not be said for Fai. The bar next door was less noisy than the café, but not by much. The echos bounced off the dingy walls as the overwhelming smell of alcohol hit Fai as he breezed past. He waved to the doorman who came to meet him, his shaggy brown hair tied back in a bandana.

"Hey, Fai! Didn't expect you here until four." He noticed Fai's tense expression before Fai could change it to a smile. "Don't give me that crap, what's up?"

"Ryuoh….Is Kurogane here?" "Fine, you don't want to talk.." muttered Ryuoh. He pointed to the bar where a man with spikey black hair was working, filling a series of dusty glasses with a clear brown liquid.

Replacing the concerned look with an ultra bright smile, he headed towards the bar. He needed information, and he needed it now. He owed Yuui that much at least.


	3. Chapter 3

CHALLENGE!! So far I've made some obscure references to different TRC characters.

I'll give whoever can find all of them a prize!! (but you'll have to PM me...)

So far I've mentioned : Yuuko, Toya, Tomoyo, Mokona, Fei Wong, Xing Huo, Caladina, Oruha, Chu'nyan, Primera, Syoran, Kyle Rondart, Shogo, Kaumi and Subaru

* * *

She Will chapter 3 :

Draped casually across the bar counter, Fai stirred a bowl of peanuts idly, waiting to be noticed by the red-eyed bartender who was currently arguing loudly with a very drunk guy in a fancy suit.

"I'm telling you I'm a doctor, I would know!"

"Look, I don't give a damn if you're a doctor or not, I don't have-"

"lachanophobia; a fear of vegetables."

Fai grinned and popped another peanut into his mouth; this was very entertaining.

When the bartender looked like he might strangle the man one of the waitresses, A lovely Chinese girl, came over and led him discreetly to the door.

"If that Rondart fellow ever comes here again, I think I'll..." He made a violent motion with his fist.

He looked suddenly at Fai as if just noticing him there against the gritty background. Instantly, he switched into a I -couldn't-care-less-about-you attitude.

"I thought you weren't playing here until later. You need help setting up your speakers again?"

Rolling his eyes, Fai casually got up and swung himself over the counter, gracefully to coming to stand next to the barman. "Is that any way to greet me after we haven't seen eachother for a whole month?" Hands on his hips, the barman said "Three months exactly, and you only show up when you want something."

Fai placed a hand over his heart dramatically, "You wound me, Kuro-chan. But as it happens, yes. I'd like some information." Rubbing his head tiredly, he muttered, "Didn't realize it'd been three months already..."

"You idiot!" hissed Kurogane, "You practically vanished off the face of the Earth, I hear NOTHING of you for three whole months, and then you just waltz in here expecting me to help you _again_?!"

Fai sniffed. "Polka. I Polka-ed in here expecting my _best friend_ to back me up a little when I just want some info."

He paused. "Wait...Kuro-kun was worried about me!! YAAATA!! hahaha!!" He cackled evilly while Kurogane wished that the Earth would open up right there and swallow him. Oh, how long it'd been since Fai was here...

Wiping his eyes, Fai turned to face Kurogane again. "Can I put these somewhere? I don't want them to spoil." He gestured to the groceries lying by the barstool.

XXXXXXX

While Kurogane stocked his groceries in the bar's cooler, Fai swiped a ratty checkered apron and looped it over his thin waist.

Out of the back room, Fai heard Kurogane's voice call, "So what did you want to know about anyway?" "Well, what do you know about a man named Fei Wong?"

There was a heavy thud and a long stream of obscenities came from the back room before Kurogane limped back up to the counter.

"Are you insane!! Fei Wong REED!? What have you gotten into- that guy's seriously dangerous!" He seethed . Just as Fai was about to reply, there was a deep rumbling from outside. "Concert's out; Brace yourselves!" Ryuoh called back to the staff, as a storm of people burst through the front doors into the bar.

"Dammit, I forgot about the concert today. Look, Fai today's not the best of days-" He stopped short at the sight of Fai's determined expression.

"Caladina's off today. And you think that you can run this all by yourself?" He snorted.

"You haven't changed a bit."

"Fai you don't even work here, you just play here in the afternoon."

"Oh please, I'm practically family here. Ryuoh doesn't care, Chun'yan doesn't care, you don't care, and the Primera fanboys just want their drinks."

Kurogane sighed; he could never win.

XXXXXXX

They were back-to-back serving drinks as fast as possible for the better part of an hour. And as much as Kurogane hated to admit it, he and Fai knew eachother so well that they made a pretty good team.

"Grab that before it spills-

"Awww, your changed all the taps around on me-

"Moron, you M.I.A for three months-

Fai reached over Kurogane grabbing the try laden with sake before it spilt all over the floor.

The absolute chaos that had reigned in the bar for the last hour was due to the fact that the Primera fanclub, the fanclub of the town's very own teen idol, chose this spot to host their after party. God knows why; they small bar was so understaffed that even the delivery boy Shogo was helping out, a pair of goggles draped around his neck.

Ryuoh, passing by with several empty trays assured Fai that he'd get paid for this. Which reminded Fai why he'd come here in the first place-

"Oh my god, Sakura-chan!!" he dropped the glass he was holding so that it shattered onto the floor, the pieces glinting dully. He ran back into the storeroom and grabbed the groceries, yanked the apron off, and tried to open a door all at the same time. He ended up on the floor with a daikon radish in his hair, and a faint throbbing in his arm.

'Sakura, what have I done! I totally forgot about her and left her in that café- and I bet she thinks I'm never coming back- which is awful since the girl already has abandonment issues, and now I can even move!'

It was true, Fai was too tangled in apron strings to even sit up.

In the semi-darkness, he could hear foot steps apporaching.

"Help! Hey I'm a little stuck in here, would someone get thier ass in here so I can go home?!"

Soft laughter met his ears, along with a voice that was uncannily familiar.

"Well well, Yuui-san, what have we gotten ourselves into now? You might want to get that radish off you head, I hear Kurogane has an acute fear of Vegetebles."

Fai knew that voice- there was only one person who would dare call him his brother's name-

"Yuuko?" he asked, suddenly hoarse. A curtain of black hair fell over his eyes, and he could feel the strings loosening as she talked.

"Hmmm...what a coincidence... or not? I was just coming here for happy hour, and I see you all trussed up on the floor. Hitsuzen surely?" the strings fell away, and Fai sat up rubbing his head.

"But I haven't seen you playing here for awhile Yuui-chan. The twins had to fill in for you, and they're just not nearly as good." She gave him an eerie smile, " Go get Sakura from the café- she's still waiting for you. And..." She peered out the door, I'll tell Kurogane that you have to cancel tonight. Oruha can sing instead."

This was the part about his weird neighbor that creeped him out the most. She knew seemingly everything without being asked. However, she was an excellent gossip, and a bottomless drinker so Fai liked having her around on occasion.

But right now she was just being creepy.

Fai grabbed his stuff and with a hurried thank you, dashed out the door. He didn't even ask how she knew half that crap. Yuuko just stood there in the darkness.

"It was indeed Hitsuzen that brought you together. So what will you do now Fai?"

Her facial expression completely changed, and then with a loud, "ohhohohoh!!" she glided inside to get her daily alcohol.

XXXXXX

Sakura was having a marvelous time with Syoran, and was hardly missing Fai at all. The five dollars Fai had given her didn't buy much, but she knew he was flat broke and couldn't bring herself to ask him for more.

They chatted animatedly over hot tea discussing things like the weather, or Syoran's various part-time jobs and generally having a good time. Sakura was careful not to reveal too much about herself or her situation. She skipped over the fact that she was rooming with Fai, that they had practically become BFF's, and that she'd once been a renown teen model and was now in hiding from her employers.

In fact, She was having a grand old time until she saw a certain disoriented blonde struggling up the street and burst into the café. He seemed to sag with relief when he caught sight of her sitting casually with Syoran, drinking tea.

Indicating that he'd wait for her outside, he picked up a rolled newspaper and sat by the streetcorner, where it was now raining.

"I'm so sorry!" said Sakura, standing up suddenly. "I really need to be getting home!"

"Oh!" said Syoran, blinking in surprise and looking at his watch. His face turned red, "Will I get to see you again?"

XXXXXXX

"Sakura's cheeks turned pink- as the happy music flowed around the two star-crossed lovers!"

Sakura punched Fai's arm as they made their way back to his apartment, Her face feeling like it was on fire.

"We just met and had a nice conversation, unlike someone, who dissapeared into a bar for an hour and a half!"

"But Sakura-chan, I just met someone and had a nice conversation!" said Fai in a perfect immitation of her voice.

"Man, only been in this town a week, and you already have a hot date!" "I do not! I just gave him my number! and at least I have a date- Fai do you even go to work?"

"Do I?"

"Hobo."

"That's cold Sakura- I worked today while you were relaxing and drinking tea with your new man. Besides, I don't mind spending evey day, out on your corner in the pouring rain."

"...Fai, It's raining again."

"No it's not-" he looked over to see a few drops falling to the ground. But they weren't coming from the sky.

"Oh wait, yeah. Yeah, it's raining."


End file.
